How will the skycar affect transportation as we know it?

[mtrv]

A different variant was suppose to go into production in the mid 70's. And they've spent millions upon millions of investers money ever since.

 

[AirBadger]

Isn't this type of thing here already? Look at the latest G1000s with the newest integrated autopilots, take-off, press FLC and NAV and you're set. If it had autothrottles it would rival many airliner's autopilots. "Easy" personal aerial transportation is going to be a middle ground between ridiculous sky cars and today's glass cockpit airplanes.

 

[JimNtexas]

In my opinion it is unlikely to ever fly off of the tether.

It is claimed to be a passenger rated, power-lift, unpiloted airplane. Think about the certification issues with such an aircraft.

 

[frog_flyer]

wtf is an mp4? how hard would it have been for them to make it a normal wmv? fools

 

[AC560]

My dream is to get some kid to PFT me $20k a year to drive me to work in my sky car.

 

[crxpilot]

As somebody else alluded to: Yep, with 30,000 plus deaths every year in automobile accidents, our society sure is ready for aerial travel for the masses.

OK, here is a quote from the new age of automobiles when they came about:
"Those pesky automobiles en masse will cause us nothing but trouble, whats wrong with our horses?!"
OK, playing devils advocate here, but it may very well be here whether people want to believe it or not. Lets face it, a monkey could fly an airplane if you teach it to. Its not rocket science!

 

[minitour]

I can't wait to see what John Doe with 2 DUI's and 5 speeding tickets on his record is going to have to pay for insurance in this thing.

What affect? None...it'll never happen.

-mini

 

[onthebeach]

Problems with vertical lift vehicles.

Despite nearly 70 years of practical vertical lift vehicles (helicopters primarily, and everything else lumped in, from the flying platform to the Harrier), their current and future uses for mass transportation are highly constrained for two main reasons.

The first is the very high operating cost per passenger-mile (or ton-mile).

The second is lack of infrastructure on the ground. To put it another way, nobody wants a heliport within earshot.

The flying car idea has been around a long, long time. Their are many objections to this latest incarnation. First, the costs will be horrendous. Second, engine-out performance is a big question (multi-engine design is absolutely essential, because the thing can't autorotate). Third, the FAA will have to certify it. Fourth, the noise signature will mobilize community opposition. Fifth, there's no infrastructure for VTOL operation (Do you really think you're going to be allowed to land in a parking lot?). Sixth, this will be an aircraft and will have to fit into the ATC system, with all that that entails. Seventh, it will require a pilot certificate, AND a powered-life one at that, and obtaining one of those, my friend, is sure to be a high-dollar proposition.

I'm sure many more objections are there, but these seven are just off the top of my head.

About the only thing the "flying car" idea is good for is to ensure a month of good sales for the "Popular Gizmo" segment of the magazine industry every couple of years. That's been working for them for about, oh, let's see now, since 1930....

 

[JohnDoe]

quote:
"OK, playing devils advocate here, but it may very well be here whether people want to believe it or not."


That's just it.....it isn't "here" yet. Read what everybody on this thread has been saying. It has been "right around the corner" for 30 or more years.

There are so many reasons why this is still faaarrr from being a reality (again, read the posts, onthebeach has many good points).

 

[Gorilla]

This thing has sucked gullible investor $$ for a LONG time. It may fly, it may fly well, but it'll NEVER get mass produced. Look at the problems with the tilt-rotor. The engineers at Bell aren't buffoons, and they are having a very tough time with the concept.

There was a concept with the piper cub years ago whereby a tether was attached to one wing, and a relatively short cable went onto a ground anchor. This allowed the cub to fly like a kid's "U"-control airplane, around and around. The idea was to go in circles until you had decent airspeed, then release the tether and zip up into the sky, allowing you to launch from an acre of cleared land. IIRC it was tested and actually worked. The trick was you still needed runway to land.

"personal, every man" air transportation, like the Jetsons, is a LONG way off.